Russian Federation Begins Flying Surveillance Drones Over Syria

Russian Federation has delivered new arms including warplanes to Syria as the regime increases attacks on rebels, officials said Tuesday, in a sign that Moscow’s growing support for its ally is having an effect.

Putin said Russia’s actions in the Middle East would always be “responsible”.

But it said the US Department of Defence was “keenly aware” of what was happening on the ground in Syria.

“The United States and the European Union especially Britain achieve their goal by directly intervening in the internal affairs of sovereign states” including Syria, where they are “supporting an armed insurgency”, he said in an interview with Press TV.

Netanyahu was accompanied on his visit to Russian Federation by Israel’s army chief-of-staff, the head of military intelligence and his military secretary. The coordination will apply to “air, naval and electromagnetic fields“, RIA Novosti reported citing a source in Israeli military.

Russian Federation has started to fly unmanned aircraft over Syria in what appears to be surveillance operations over the country, two US officials told CNN.

“We await a clear standpoint on this terrorist act from all members of the global community, including regional actors”, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The West suspects that Russia’s movement of aircraft, missiles, tanks and other military equipment to Syria is intended to support the government of President Bashar Assad.

At the same time, according to the Financial Times, Russian Federation is to deploy 2,000 military personnel to its new air base near the Syrian port city of Latakia, signaling the scale of Moscow’s involvement in the war-torn country.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss bilateral and global relations, particularly the situation in Syria.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, also expressed concerns over Russia’s move, saying that it’s unclear whether Moscow aims to battle ISIS in Syria or “prop up the Assad regime”.

Netanyahu told Putin that Russian Federation needed to know that Israel would take action to prevent these weapons transfers and thus it was important to make sure there were no misunderstandings between their military forces.

The new weapons had as of now been sent against IS in the urban areas of Deir Ezzor and Raqa, the jihadist group’s accepted capital in Syria.